"With Mistress Stowe in her parlour. She is showing him some rare
things that her brother brought from the Spanish Main. He will have
eyes for nothing else this side of noon."
So Morgan joined Jeffreys, and the two went along Chepe westwards
towards St. Paul's. At the end of the great street stood the gate
known as the "Little Gate," and they went under the low archway into
the cathedral precincts. Inside, the place was as busy as Chepe
itself. Shops clustered under the wall, their gaudy signs swinging and
creaking in the September breeze, and 'prentices cried their masters'
wares and importuned passing folk to buy. The two men pushed their way
through the throng towards the northern transept of the great church,
and there found their path blocked again by a crowd that stood around
St. Paul's cross and pulpit, all ears for the words of a popular city
preacher. The cleric's discourse was more of a political oration than
a sermon. He thundered against "Rome" and the "Scarlet Woman," and
denounced the King of Spain as the veritable "child of the devil," and
he called upon all men to be up and doing something for the destruction
of the "monster." Master Jeffreys stopped to listen, and Morgan had
perforce to stay with him. The reverend orator dwelt in glowing terms
on the riches of the Indies, the rights of all Christians to a share
therein, and the greed of Spain in refusing other nations a proper
share. He played upon his audience as a skilled player upon a harp,
touching each string of emotion in turn, and then striking a chord to
which all strings would vibrate. For a moment he excited religious
emotion, then political fervour, then greed, love of glory and
adventure, then national pride and hatred of Spain, then all these
together by one cunning sentence. The forester out from the west felt
his heart beating rapidly, his ears warming and tingling, and his right
hand fidgeting with the handle of his sword. His companion could not
keep still, and hot ejaculations sprang from his lips. He was a true
Devon man of that roaring time, sailor, patriot, and pirate all rolled
into one.
"By my beard, Master Morgan," he gasped, "I have been feeling ill and
full of strange qualms and sinkings these many days past. 'Twas an
active spirit rebelling against imprisonment in an idle body. I must
to sea again--this dalliance in towns and in the company of sleek
shopkeepers and peacock-garbed gallants is slow death to a fellow of
mettle. I must get me down to Plymouth again, and join any bold
captain that hath a mind to turn his ship westward ho!"
Morgan sighed. "Bones o' me!" he exclaimed, "the parson hath stirred
something within my bosom also."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account